Melbourne, June 6, 1889.
It affords me much pleasure to state that Mr J. C. Kiernander held for several years the position of Superintendent of the Agricultural and Horticultural Gardens of Calcutta,1 so that through his experience there, and by his previous training, he should be particularly qualified for all kinds of rural pursuits and operations connected therewith.
(Signed)
Baron Ferd Von Mueller
M. and P.M.D.2, F.R.S.
Presumably the nursery gardens of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, Alipore.
Typesetter's error for Ph.D.?
Letter not found. The text given here is from 'Mr. Kiernander', Standard (Port Melbourne), 15 June 1889, p. 3. The letter is preceded by
'A number of our readers have frequently inquired of us and others as to a Mr Kiernander, whose pungent letters have appeared from time to time in our columns. Mr Kiernander is a gentleman who has held a most important public office in India, and from his education and training we were induced to insert his letters, though not always agreeing with the same. … The following copy of a letter, sent to Mr Kiernander, from our old and respected professor, Baron Von Müeller, ought to be a sufficient guarantee of Mr Kiernander's ability to discuss any ordinary question affecting the public weal. …'
The text was also used in an advertisement for Dodd's Kidney Pills, preceding several testimonials by John Kiernander; see, for example, Age (Melbourne), 14 October 1899, p. 15.
Although advertising his business as a florist (e.g. Standard (Port Melbourne), 6 October 1888, p. 3, col. f), Kiernander's name frequently appeared as the author of testimonial letters in advertisements for pharmacists. His letters to the editor were mainly political, especially condemning the coalition government of the period, written from his perspective as 'a liberal and protectionist' (letter to the editor, Standard, 16 March 1889, p. 2).
Neither of the uses to which Mueller's testimonial was put appears relevant to the content. The date of the testimonial suggests that Kiernander was thinking of looking for relevant work before he advertised that he was seeking a position: 'the late Superintendent Horticultural-garden, India, desires ENGAGEMENT, Queensland. Kiernander, Bay-St, Port Melbourne' (Argus, 2 October 1891, p. 1). Although no other evidence of cessation of his business as a florist has been found, the last known advertisement for it appeared in Standard (Port Melbourne), 5 October 1889, p. 4. There is no evidence that he went to Queensland. He was writing to the Melbourne press in the 1890s, mostly on agricultural and related topics. When he died from kidney disease at age c.70 while a patient at the Kew Hospital for the Insane (Inquest, VPRS 24/P0000, 1913/243), his death notice described him as 'journalist' (Age (Melbourne) 2 April 1913, p. 1).
Please cite as “FVM-89-06-06a,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on